


Two Jewels: The Art of Romance

by caspaar



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Fire Emblem: Three Houses Black Eagles Route, M/M, Mentioned Dorothea Arnault, Mentioned Edelgard von Hresvelg, Mentioned Raphael Kirsten, One Shot, Original Character(s), POV Hubert von Vestra, POV Original Character, Post-Black Eagles Route (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Short & Sweet, no beta we die like Glenn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:27:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29366247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caspaar/pseuds/caspaar
Summary: After a considerate amount of time of being primped and preened by his husband had inched by painfully, he stared in abject horror when Ferdinand completely shucked the maroon jacket and off white linen shirt he wore, flexing his arms in the cooler air. “What are you doing?” he muttered, staring at Ferdinand as if he’d never seen such a sight before. As if he did not wake every morning in the strong embrace of his naked husband and lover. Ferdinand turned with a brilliant smile, his marigold curls perfectly swinging to ripple down the side of his face and down to his chiseled stomach. Hubert dissolved into a coughing fit when he found himself groaning involuntarily.“Why, I am simply getting myself into my own state for the portrait. I have a very specific vision for this one!” Ferdinand replied, seeming to bubble over with pride that he had somehow convinced Hubert to be in this position.. . . . . .When Ferdinand von Aegir asks his husband to pose for a new portrait, Hubert von Vestra begrudgingly agrees. It is quite a surprise when he finds out the very specific nature of this portrait.
Relationships: Ferdinand von Aegir/Hubert von Vestra, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 42





	Two Jewels: The Art of Romance

**Author's Note:**

> we had a discussion in the ferdibert server about the two of them posing like a cheesy romance novel cover, and i could not help but write about it! there will be a follow up to this fic at some point, which will include some fun reincarnation au stuff! for now, i just wanted to get something fun out!! enjoy!

_Enbarr, the United Empire of Fodlan. 1193._

“If you could remind me, my dear,” Hubert von Vestra huffed through gritted teeth as his husband began unbuttoning and untucking the white linen shirt he’d so perfectly pressed a mere three hours beforehand. “Why, in Sothis’ name, are you forcing me into this?”

Quickly, Ferdinand von Aegir looked up from his task, his happy grin fading quickly into a pout. Oh, so fast. Hubert could never seem to resist it, once he had the honour to call this man his husband. Many years, from their childhood running through the halls of the Imperial Royal Palace to their Emperor blessed union, Hubert had been a victim to the hurt pouting Ferdinand would fall into when he believed that Hubert would not give him what he wanted. And a very small part of his brain always screamed at him that Ferdinand _knew what he was doing_. And yet, he knew that Ferdinand von Aegir, Prime Minister of Fodlan and shining jewel of the country’s government, too often was in his own world and did not pay attention to the effect he had on his husband. Looking back, he believed the word Dorothea had used in regard to his adoration of Ferdinand as “whipped.”

“Is it truly too much to ask that I have the love between me and my darling husband be immortalised for the world to see how true our love is?” Hubert sighed. There was that damnable romanticism that he had so fallen in love with. Ferdinand could see the love and beauty in anything he touched, himself included. It had been such a shock when Ferdinand had begun courting him in the final year of the fateful Crimson War that united their country in Emperor Edelgard von Hresvelg’s vision. When he had noticed that their tea-and-coffee meetings had transformed into small gifts given to him with a saccharine smile and a blush, late night walks through the monastery filled with laughter, and the occasional hand slipped shyly into his… Well, Hubert had blanched at the idea that someone who so loved to walk smiling into the sunshine would want to throw in his lot with someone like him, a haunting shadow that would only follow his Lady to his death. When he had approached Edelgard and Dorothea in a panic at the revelation, the two had giggled into their palms and gently explained that Ferdinand had always felt this way, since they were mere children in the Imperial Royal Palace. That Ferdinand, no matter how frustrating he found Hubert, had always been staring behind his back with longing eyes. And that Hubert’s behaviour had betrayed long ago that he also felt the same for Ferdinand.

From across the room, the sound of a throat clearing broke him from his thoughts. He turned on the sound, scowling at a terrified looking Ignatz Victor. “I, ah,” the artist fumbled, the brushes and palette in his hand shaking, betraying his anxiety under the frightful gaze of the Minister of the Imperial Household. “I can always leave if you need a moment…?” His widened moss green eyes wandered between Ferdinand and Hubert as he trailed off. Hubert stiffened and looked back to Ferdinand, who’s pathetic puppy dog pout had intensified. His amber eyes silently begged him and he immediately deflated.

“No,” he began. “I shall prepare myself for my husband’s request.”

At this, Ferdinand perked up and he began continuing his partial disrobing of him. A mild flush began to cross Hubert’s cheeks as he was exposed to the cool air of the small studio. Ignatz had defected to the empire with his bumbling brawler friend, Raphael Kirsten, the same year Hubert and Ferdinand began to discover one another. The Alliance fell into Empire control not too long after the pair had joined their ranks, and more former Alliance members followed after them. He had been glad for the support and resources, that much was true, but he had struggled to see a use for either of them in this new world of the Empire. Edelgard made quick of those thoughts and instructed him to appoint Ignatz as the official Imperial Artisan, sticking around for whenever those in power needed portraitures done, and Raphael as a commander under General Caspar von Bergliez. The former had been successful in his work, while the latter had been welcomed with many bellows of joy and tight hugs between the two brawlers, who had apparently become rather close friends during their academy days. Here Hubert stood, in the private studio that had been assigned to Ignatz once the war had ended.

After a considerate amount of time of being primped and preened by his husband had inched by painfully, he stared in abject horror when Ferdinand completely shucked the maroon jacket and off-white linen shirt he wore, flexing his arms in the cooler air. “What are you doing?” he muttered, staring at Ferdinand as if he’d never seen such a sight before. As if he did not wake every morning in the strong embrace of his naked husband and lover. Ferdinand turned with a brilliant smile, his marigold curls perfectly swinging to ripple down the side of his face and down to his chiseled stomach. Hubert dissolved into a coughing fit when he found himself groaning involuntarily.

“Why, I am simply getting myself into my own state for the portrait. I have a very specific vision for this one!” Ferdinand replied, seeming to bubble over with pride that he had somehow convinced Hubert to be in this position. Hubert merely rolled his eyes as Ferdinand grabbed his hand and pulled him to the podium that had been fitted with two supports for the two of them to lean into when posing. Across from them, Ignatz had begun setting up his supplies around the large canvas in front of the podium, very clearly trying to ignore the intimacy between the ministers. The decision did not go unnoticed or unappreciated by Hubert. Any form of affection in the face of others embarrassed him to no end, no matter how much Ferdinand could not contain his love for him. Despite being married for nearly five years to the rather excitable noble.

Once they were properly atop the podium, Ferdinand began to thread his fingers gently through Hubert’s sable waves, pushing them aside from his face with the kind of gentle expression that Hubert had never thought would be directed toward him for so long. The loving looks, the desire to immortalise their love, the gentle touches, the saccharine words… moments like these often overwhelmed him. His entire heart belonged to his flamboyant and cheerful husband, and he felt a small dusting of pink rise in his cheeks all the same. “ _Ferdinand_ …” he began, his voice above a whisper. Ferdinand merely smiled at him before sitting him against the one support.

“Ignatz and I worked very hard on this pose, so please be understanding about it,” his husband began while fussing about his hair and pulling his body to sit just right. Hubert began huffing only when Ferdinand pulled his shirt a little wider to rest barely over his shoulders. “Perfect. You look rather dashing, my love.” Hubert began to flush more at the words. He would’ve never described himself in any form as dashing, but all the same, Ferdinand often saw him through rose coloured glass. 

Suddenly, Ferdinand was leaning back, legs each stretched out and encircling Hubert’s ankles. He sat up with his left elbow on the support and reached his hand out to indicate that Hubert was to lean down to him. Before Hubert could move from the horrified stare he gave his husband, Ignatz was moving forward to carefully place Ferdinand’s hair across his shoulders and out around the white cloth behind him. “Hubert, please?” Ferdinand said, his voice dripping with sweetness. Ah, here was one of the times that Ferdinand intentionally used his love for the redhead against him. Gingerly, Hubert stepped closer, letting out a disgruntled noise of surprise when Ferdinand grabbed his own left arm to rest next to his hip on the support. Next, he felt Ignatz trembling hands positioning him so his torso faced the canvas as he stared into Ferdinand’s eyes. Ferdinand placed his gentle, free hand to Hubert’s cheek with a grin.

This was not how this was supposed to go. This was not what he agreed to in the slightest. He had agreed to this thinking they would be sitting, clothed properly, for a simple portrait, not some sort of lustful dream Ferdinand had cooked up. If anyone who knew him could see him, would see this finished work, he would never hear the end of it. Perhaps Ferdinand’s goal was to hang this privately in their quarters deep within the Imperial Royal Palace. Perhaps he would never have to hear a single giggle from his beloved friends. Was Hubert von Vestra going soft in the face of Ferdinand von Aegir? This question had haunted him in the past, and it resurfaced immediately in this moment. But with his tantalising husband laying back in such a way, gazing at him with nothing but lust and reverence, he felt himself relaxing against him while they shared the look between one another. Ignatz cleared his throat as he sat, pulling out a piece of charcoal to begin the sketching process. “Perfect, shall we begin?”

* * *

_Enbarr Cultural Museum, Enbarr, Fodlan. 2021._

“Hector, slow down! Why are you running so fast?”

Through the throng of museum patrons, Violetta von Vestraegir’s stern voice cut through the murmuring in the air as her son’s excitement took him through the halls leading to a specific art piece her great-grandfather had long since donated. Despite knowing exactly where he was running to his favourite piece, she was mildly concerned about being separated from her son. Hector’s chartreuse eyes had lit up when he realised they were close to the now infamous painting of their ancestors and he had tugged hard on his mother’s arm before shooting off like a bullet. She sighed as she followed him.

Once she had pushed her way through the flock of giggling girls snapping pictures on their phones and gossiping about the fated romance of these two historical figures, she found Hector at the front, staring starry-eyed at the portrait. It had been quite a hit once it had been unveiled. Originally, the piece had been hung for generations in the front hall of Winterborne Court, the historical estate that the pair of Ministers had established several years into their marriage. The estate of her childhood, surrounded by the love and work of the first Minister of the Imperial Household and Prime Minister of the United Empire of Fodlan. Her great-grandfather had been so enraptured by the piece that he had felt that it deserved to be shown to the world. 

Since then, the story of Ferdinand von Aegir and his romance through his life with Hubert von Vestra had taken their world by storm. The current generation had painted them as wild lovers, historical fiction novels describing them as passionate lovers in the drama of war, fans of the pair posting on online servers about what they could’ve been like. When the fan art came around, and when the young adult geared television show began airing, Violetta had been caught in high school. Once her peers realised she was an immediate descendant of the famed Aegir-Vestra estate, she had been mildly overwhelmed by questions. It warmed her heart to see her son happy for the pair.

From where she stood, she could see the smiles the two wore, pure love between two men in their own world. Gently, she raised a hand to touch the bronze curls that tumbled down to her waist, an act she had been doing mindlessly every time she saw portraits of Ferdinand von Aegir, the Black Eagles Strike Force commander turned beloved Prime Minister. The traits of the Ministers trickled down their family tree, even now, so long since their deaths. Her eyes wandered from the comely redhead to his husband, Hubert von Vestra, positioned to reveal his chest to those gazing upon the intimate scene between them. From what she had read in an old journal, Hubert had been very disgruntled when they had finished with the piece, having been subjected to the artist, one Ignatz Victor, viewing the intimate moment between him and his husband.

“Hector,” she called out gently, drawing the attention of her son. She smiled, holding out a hand. “Would you like to go look at the portrait of Emperor Edelgard and her Jewels?” Grabbing his mother’s hand, Hector nodded vigorously. Both smiling, the Vestraegirs moved through the crowd away from the piece labelled:

_Ignatz Victor._

_Leicester Alliance, Born 1162._

_The Art of Romance, Oil on Canvas._

_Count Hubert von Vestra and Duke Ferdinand von Aegir share a moment of love in the late afternoon._

_Donated by the Vestraegir Estate, 2010._

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! let me know what you thought! :) make sure to follow me on twitter @roamnginstigatr for any new work updates, or just general fire emblem: three houses shenanigans!!


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